1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control-specification design management system. A control-specification design management system may be used for load control devices. In the control-specification design management system, each of the load control devices includes a rewritable storage which stores control-specification information. The control-specification information relates to the connection correspondence of control switches, arrayed on an operation panel, to loads as objects to be controlled. Loads are controlled by using load control information based on the control-specification information.
More particularly, the invention relates to a control-specification design management system used for load control devices for vehicles. In the vehicle load control devices, each includes a rewritable storage which stores control-specification information on the connection correspondence between the vehicle""s electric components, such as lamps or an air conditioner, which are loads that constitute objects to be controlled, and the plurality of control switches arrayed on the vehicle""s operation panel. The vehicle has a master multiplex communication unit for carrying out a process of multiplexing load control information, based on the control-specification information, through a multiplex transmission line. The vehicle also has a plurality of slave multiplex communication units for carrying out a process of multiplexing load control information, based on the control-specification information, through a multiplex transmission line. The control of the loads is accomplished by using the multiplexed load control information, with the master multiplex communication unit being interconnected with the slave multiplex communication units by multiplex transmission lines.
2. Related Art
A control-specification design management system used for load control devices as shown in FIG. 23 is known to the inventors.
As shown, a control-specification design management system 5 is used for load control devices 2. In the system, the control-specification information on the connection correspondence of a plural number of control switches 6a arrayed on an operation panel 6 to loads 3, as objects to be controlled, are respectively stored in the load control devices 2b, which are designed to be exclusively used for those pieces of control-specification information, respectively. Accordingly, the load control devices 2, the number of which is equal to the number of kinds of control-specification information, are provided in the control-specification design management system. The design of the control-specification information is manually performed.
The exclusive load control devices 2 respectively control the loads 3. Loads 3 are each connected to the control units 2 using load control information 1. The load control information is formed on the basis of the control-specification information.
Also in a control-specification design management system 5 used for load control devices 2, each load control device 2 includes a master multiplex communication unit for carrying out a multiplexing process of load control information 1, based on the control-specification information, through a multiplex transmission line 8. Each load control device 2 also includes a slave multiplex communication unit 2b, connected to the master multiplex communication unit, for carrying out a multiplexing process of load control information 1 and for controlling loads 3 by the multiplexed load control information 1.
The respective control-specification information, for each exclusive master multiplex communication unit and each slave multiplex communication unit 2b, are stored. Accordingly, the exclusive master multiplex communication units and the slave multiplex communication units 2b, are provided in equal number to the kinds of the control-specification information. As already mentioned, however, the design of control-specification information is wholly manual.
The exclusive master multiplex communication units of load control devices 2 and the slave multiplex communication units 2b control the loads 3 connected thereto by using the load control information 1, which is based on the control-specification information.
The foregoing arrangement is provided because the control-specification information may be different for every user and every type of motor vehicle.
The load control information 1 includes the details of the control of the loads 3, the types of the loads 3 (e.g., lamps and an air conditioner), and control methods (e.g., the control of light intensities of lamps, and the on/off supply of electric power to the air conditioner).
As described above, in the conventional control-specification design management system, it is necessary to provide the exclusive load control devices (or the exclusive master multiplex communication units and the slave multiplex communication units) of which the number is equal to the number of kinds of the control-specification information. It is difficult to standardize the load control devices in their design. The difficulty of the standardization makes it difficult to improve the productivity and to realize cost reduction.
As referred to above, the design of the control-specification information is done solely by manual work. Because of this, it is difficult to add necessary information to control-specification information that already has been determined. It also is difficult and alter the control-specification information. Accordingly, this makes it difficult to reduce the number of steps in the design process, to improve productivity, and to reduce manufacturing costs. The same problems arise in standardizing the wire harness.
For the foregoing reasons, an object of the present invention is to provide a control-specification design management system which is capable of readily standardizing the design of the load control devices and the wire harness, and hence reducing the number of steps of the design process, improving productivity, and achieving cost reduction.
In the present invention, in designing the connection correspondence of the control switches to the loads, the control-specification design management system refers to a look-up table or a slip file, prepared in the preceding design, and presents to a designer candidates for the loads that can be controlled when these are connected to the control switches, thereby to impel the designer to select the most suitable candidate from those presented. In this way, the designer forms control-specification information. The contents of the slip file are printed out.
As an aspect of the present invention, there is thus provided a control-specification design management system used for load control devices. Each load control device has a rewritable storage which stores control-specification information on the connection correspondence between a plurality of control switches arrayed on an operation panel, and loads, as objects to be controlled. Each load control device is capable of controlling the loads by using load control information which is based on the control-specification information. The control-specification design management system is characterized in that a look-up table is provided. The look-up table includes the connection correspondence of loads that can be controlled when such loads are connected to the control switches. In designing the connection correspondence of the control switches to the loads, the control-specification design management system refers to the look-up table. The system presents to the designer candidates for the loads that can be controlled when these are connected to the control switches. Thereby, the designer may select the most suitable one from among those presented candidates, thus forming or defining the control-specification information.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control-specification design management system used for load control devices each having a rewritable storage which stores control-specification information on the connection correspondence of a plural number of control switches arrayed on an operation panel, and loads as objects to be controlled, and a master multiplex communication unit for carrying out a process of multiplexing load control information based on the control-specification information through a multiplex transmission line, a plural number of slave multiplex communication units for carrying out a process of multiplexing load control information based on the control-specification information through a multiplex transmission line, and being capable of controlling the loads by using the multiplexed load control information, and the master multiplex communication unit being interconnected with the slave multiplex communication units by multiplex transmission lines, the control-specification design management system being characterized in that a look-up table for storing the connection correspondence of the loads that can be controlled when these are connected to the control switches, is provided, and in designing the connection correspondence of the control switches to the loads, the control-specification design management system refers to the look-up table, and presents to a designer candidates for the loads that can be controlled when these are connected to the control switches, to thereby impel a designer to select the most suitable one from among those presented candidates, whereby control-specification information for the load control devices is formed.
According to the present invention, in a system having load control devices, the storage is electrically and removably coupled with the load control devices. According to the present invention, in a system having master and slave multiplex communication units, the storage is electrically and removably coupled with the master multiplex communication unit.
According to the present invention, a slip file is formed using the formed control-specification information, and the contents of the slip file are printed out.
According to the present invention, in designing the connection correspondence between the control switches and the loads, the control-specification design management system may refer not only to the look-up table, but also to the slip file prepared in the preceding design.
As already noted, the designed control-specification information is stored in the rewritable storage. The storage is electrically and removably coupled with the load control device (or the master multiplex communication unit or the slave multiplex communication units, and the designed control-specification information may be transmitted to the device when required. To alter the designed control-specification information, all a designer has to do is to alter only the control-specification information in the storage. Accordingly, in the present invention, there is no need for providing exclusive load control devices (or the exclusive master multiplex communication units or the exclusive slave multiplex communication units) in a number equal to that of the kinds of control-specification information. This is an important advantage over a conventional control-specification design management system. Therefore, the invention makes it easy to standardize the load control devices and the wire harness (viz., to establish standards and manufacture according to those established standards). The reduction of the number of steps of the design process, the productivity improvement, the cost reduction are realized.
The control-specification information may also be altered in a manner that a writing means, externally provided, is directly and electrically connected to the load control device in a state that the storage is electrically and mechanically coupled with the load control devices. The connection correspondence of the loads that can be controlled when these are connected to the control switches, and these control switches are recorded in the look-up table.
In the invention, the connection correspondence stored in the look-up table are the combination of type information indicative of types of the control switches, information of locations of the control switches on the operation board, serial numbers of the control switches, connector array information every load control device (or the plural number of slave multiplex communication units), output terminal information of these connectors, information of the output terminals that may be connected to the loads, control condition information every load (e.g., drive power condition, drive period condition, open or close of the interlocked doors), name information of the loads, information storage date, user codes, serial number of look-up tables, various default setting information, and the like.
Accordingly, it is easy to computerize the design work of the control-specification information, which formerly has been entirely manual work. The addition and alteration of the control-specification information are thus simplified. This leads to the reduction of the number of steps of a design process and the cost to manufacture, and the improvement of the productivity.
In one embodiment, the contents of the slip file may be displayed on the screen of a display means instead of printing out them on the paper.